A fourth grade's architectural journey

Teaching Pre K-8, Oct 1994 by Butterfield, Laura

In Trumansburg, New York, our fourth graders learn about local history by studying town architecture. Founded in 1792, this small upstate town is brimming with historic architectural styles. In fact, there's so much to do that the interdisciplinary unit begins in September and lasts all year.

The program was started with help from Cornell University, and it was developed by our staff over the years. It encompasses New York State's social studies requirements, and also includes aspects of writing, art, math, science, public speaking, research and cooperative learning.

Submersed in style. In the fall, after a crash course in perspective by the art teacher, students literally "hit the streets." Armed with drawing materials, they begin sketching homes that represent the earliest six styles

-- Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne

-- in the village. Grumblings of "I can't do this," or "This is hard" are heard at first, but quickly even the most pessimistic of the bunch are pleasantly surprised by what they see on their papers. As one student proudly announced to his teacher, "It's amazing what you can do just by looking!"

The drawings are then featured in a calendar called "Sketches of Trumansburg," which is sold around Thanksgiving. Since each student has a drawing featured in the calendar, whether large or small, everyone wants a copy. How proud the students are to see their work published!

Living architecture. Next, the students visit and participate in a day at a Victorian one-room school, The Eight Square School. This visit, too, has an architectural tie: the building is octagonal. The children study the brickwork outside and the eight corners inside the school; many make sketches to remember the day. The kids are encouraged to dress as students in the early 1900's did; they're taught by a Victorian teacher guide, they play games of the period, and they bring their lunches in handmade lunch pails.

Using architectural terms, the six styles are taught, and each is placed in its proper place on a timeline. Creating timelines of historic events enhances the students' appreciation of local, state and national events in relation to the styles. When teaching, we concentrate on the essential details and characteristics of each style.

3-D models. By mid-year, each student begins to build a model house of Foam Board in one of the six styles studied in art class. Cooperative learning groups are formed and parents become involved in the building. Groups comb through architectural resource books to make sure their decisions about architectural details are true to style. As the buildings are constructed, preparations for Architecture Night begin.

Architecture Night is when the students, in their cooperative groups, teach their parents about the history and style of the house they constructed. They give speeches that they have written and researched. The fourth grade experts love testing their parents on what they learned in "Architecture 101." The parents enjoy the craftsmanship, speeches and self-confidence the children display throughout the night.

When spring comes, each class does a different thing to continue learning about local history through architecture. Trips are taken to cemeteries to "visit" past owners and builders of the houses the kids studied, and to the local historical society to view artifacts and photographs of the town's past. Students run for office on classroom town boards to make decisions on development within the village. Lively discussions are held on what the town may or may not need. The students read Eric Sloan's Diary of an Early American Boy, (Ballantine, 1984) to see how homesteads were built and how people lived. To document the past and make it real, slides of the village are shown from a collection at the historical society.

Living history. The culminating activity in June is a field trip to the Genesee Country Museum in Mumford, New York. Parents travel with us for this learning experience, an extension of the year-long lesson in local history. Everyone's expenses are paid by the proceeds from the calendar project.

The museum--a nineteenth century village--is composed of restored buildings from nearby towns. Many of the houses and shops have a "worker" or "owner" inside waiting to show how chores and jobs were done. The workers answer questions about the tools they're using and tell about their typical day. On one trip, a guide pointed out George Washington's picture and asked the students why his picture was in this house. A child answered matter of factly, "He was President at the time this house was lived in; it is a Federal, you know."

We have so much to teach in a year. If we can introduce and repeat concepts in an interdisciplinary approach, the children are the winners. Architecture has done this for us and for our students.

Art teacher Laura Butterfield, principal R. Carolyn Lange and fourth grade teachers Carol Kappel, Gayla Miller, Ron Miller, Katy Sinko and Kellie Stiadle contributed to this article. They're staff members at Trumansburg Elementary School.